Drop-head sewing-machine.



S. A. DAVIS.

DROP HEAD SEWING MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED 00 12.19, 1907.

962,700. Patented June 28, 1910.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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DROP HEAD SEWING MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED 001.19, 1907.

rammed June 28, 1910.

'2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

STEPHEN A. DAVIS, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO DOMESTIC SEWING MACHINE COMPANY, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION JERSEY.

OF NEW DROP-HEAD SEWING-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 28, 1910.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, STEPHEN A. DAVIS, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Drop-Head Sewing-Machines, of which the following is a description.

My invention is an improvement in drophead sewing machines and relates particularly to an improved means for raising and lowering the sewing head.

My invention has for its object the improvement of sewing machines of the type patented to myself and A. S. lVass in United States Patent No. 5at0,823, granted June 11, 1895. I find that in machines made with the wooden guide rods shown in the above mentioned patent, there is considerable tendency for such guide rods to shrink, warp and swell, according to the varying conditions of the weather, and thus interfere with the smooth operation of the device. In my improved machine these guide rods are made of metal and the objections which have here tofore been presented are thereby obviated. In addition to this change I have made a number of other improvements in this type of machine as will hereinafter appear, and have greatly simplified and improved the same.

VVit-h these and related objects in view my invention consists of the parts, improvements and combinations hereinafter set forth and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, wherein the same reference numerals are uniformly applied to the same parts, Figure l is a sectional front elevation of a drop-head sewing machine embodying the preferred form of my invention, the cabinet being shown in section; Fig. 2 is a View similar to Fig. 1 showing the sewing head lowered into the cabinet, and Fig. 3 is a sectional detail view taken at right angles to Fig. 2, the sewing head being removed.

1 represents the cabinet of the machine provided with the usual legs 2, driving wheel 3 and sewing head 4. The devices for raising and lowering the head are situated within the cabinet, near the back thereof, and for the principal part are supported upon the back plate 5 of the cabinet. As heretofore, the cover 6 is made use of as a lever for operating these devices. The sewing head is provided with a base plate 7 and secured beneath this base plate, preferably by machine screws 8, is a frame 9 which. is conveniently made of a single casting. The frame 9 is provided with downwardly extending legs 10 which are offset at their lower ends as shown at 11, and provided with openings to receive the guide rods 12. The frame is also provided with backwardly extending lugs 13 near its upper portion which are likewise perforated for the passage of the guide rods 12. These guide rods are set parallel to one another in the machine and are secured at their upper ends by means of holding plates 14 to the top plate 15 of the cabinet. At their lower ends these guide rods 12 are secured to the back plate by means of holding members 16. The guide rods, as is usual in this type of machine, are not placed quite vertically in the machine, but stand at a slight angle so that as the head is lowered within the machine it will be guided to one side and away from the driving wheel 3.

The hinged cover plate 6 is provided with a slot 17 in which is received the link 18 pivoted to the cover plate at 19. This link also lies, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, in the slot 20 in the back part of the top piece of the cabinet. The said link has an offset portion 21 extending downwardly into the machine and at the end of this offset portion the link 18 is pivotally secured at 22 to one arm 23 of a bell crank which comprises also the arm 24: which may be pivotally adjusted with respect to the arm 23, by means of set screws 25. This bell crank is pivoted to the back plate of the cabinet at 26. A link 27 is pivoted at its ends to the arm 24: and the frame 9 respectively. A spring 28 is secured at one end to the top plate of the cabinet and at its other end to the arm 24 of the bell crank, substantially midway between the ends thereof.

To operate the parts thus far described, when, for example, they are in the position shown in Fig. 2, the hinged cover 6 is lifted by the hand of the operator and turned back into the position shown in Fig.

1. This motion of the cover through the link 21 operates to turn the bell crank 29, 2st upon its pivot Y26 and the frame 9 is pushed upwardly upon the guide rods 12, and the sewing machine head and base plate '7 raised into the position shown in Flg. 1 in which position the parts are locked by reason of the pivot 19, of the link 18 belng lower than the hinge of the cover 6. The spring 28 of course assists in maintaining the sewing head and its base plate in the raised position. If it be found that the base plate is either too high or too low, its position may be adjusted by means of the set screws 25 acting through the arm 24 and the link 27.

When the sewing head and its connected parts are in the lowered position within the cabinet, it is desirable that means be provided for holding the parts rigidly with respect to one another, so that, for instance, when the machine is being shipped or moved from place to place, the parts will not be racked and shaken. To this end I provide means between the front of the cabinet and the base plate of the sewing head, which operates to resiliently press the base plate toward the rear of the cabinet and thus maintain the parts rigidly in place. The preferred means used for this purpose comprises a leaf spring 29 secured to the upper and lower portions of the front piece or door 30 of the cabinet. This leaf spring may be made to operate more effectively by giving it a reverse bend 31 at its lower end before it is secured at that end to the cabinet. A metallic rubbing piece 82 is preferably secured to the front of the base plate 7 where it rests against the spring 29. One or more of these springs 29 and metallic pieces 32 may be provided as desired. It will be evident that, when the base plate carrying the sewing head is lowered within the cabinet, the parts will be rigidly maintained in place by means of the spring 29 so that all tendency to shaking and racking will be obviated, and by this means also the sewing head will be locked in its depressed position by means of the frictional engagement between the parts 29 and 32.

Having now described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In a drop-head sewing machine, the combination of a base plate and sewing head, means for raising and lowering the same, and means interposed between the front of the cabinet and the base plate for pressing the same backward toward the rear of the cabinet, substantially as set forth.

2. In a drop-head sewing machine, the combination with the cabinet, of a sewing head and its base plate, means for raising and lowering the sewing head and means operating by friction to retain the sewing head in its lowered position, substantially as set forth.

3. In a drop-head sewing machine, the combination with the cabinet, of the sewlng head, a spring connected to the sewing head and tending to elevate it and means operating by friction to retain the sewing head in its lowered position, substantially as set forth.

4. In a drop head sewing machine, the combination with the cabinet, of a sew ng head movable up and down and a leaf sprlng interposed between the front of the cabinet and the sewing head, substantially as set forth.

5. In a drop head sewing machine, the combination with the cabinet, of the sewlng head and its base plate movable up and down in the said cabinet, a leaf spring secured tothe front of the cabinet and pressing against the said base plate, and a metallic rubbing piece secured to the base plate, substantially as set forth.

6. In a drop head sewing machine, the combination with the cabinet, of a sewing head and its base plate movable up and down therein and a leaf spring secured to the front of the cabinet at its upper portion and extending downwardly to the lower portion thereof and thereat provided with a reverse bend and secured to the lower portion of the said front plate, the lower portion of said spring being positioned to press against the said base plate when the latter is in lowered position, substantially as set forth.

7. In a drop head sewing machine, the combination with the cabinet, of a lid hinged thereto and provided with a slot therein, a pair of inclined metallic guide rods secured within the cabinet at the rear thereof, a sewing head movable up and down on the said guide rods, a bell crank lever pivoted to the cabinet and having the arms thereof adjustable relative to one another, means of connection between one of the arms of said bell crank lever and the sewing head, a contraction spring secured to the cabinet and to one of the arms of the bell crank lever and a link pivoted at one end to thehinged lid and connected at its other end directly to one of the arms of said bell crank lever, and adapted to fit the slot in the lid, substantially as set forth.

8. In a drop head sewing machine, the combination with the cabinet, of a lid hinged thereto and provided with a slot therein, a pair of inclined metallic guide rods secured within the cabinet at the rear thereof, a sewing head movable up and down on the said guide rods, a bell crank lever pivoted to the cabinet and having the arms thereof adjustable relative to one another, means of connection between one of the arms of said bell crank lever and the sewing head, a contraction spring secured to the cabinet and to link being adapted to fit the slot in the lid, 10

one of the arms of the bell crank lever and substantially as set forth.

a link having a substantially straight upper This specification signed and witnessed surface1 and pigoted at one enld to th; hinged this 17th day of October 1907.

id an rovi ed near its 0t 1er en with a downwafdly extending portion, the lower STEPHEN DAVIS part of the downwardly extending portion Witnesses: of the said link being pivoted to one of the E. A. LINDERHOLM, arms of said bell crank lever, and the said PETER LAWSON. 

